Citrus, Ginger & Coconut Smoothie

I came across this recipe over at NITK and after having just bought an extra large piece of ginger (I always feel kinda bad when I only break off a little bit....) it seemed like the right thing to use some of it for!

This smoothie contains two of your five a day, and is a great way to detox your body a little. It's zingy, sweet and fresh - perfect when you need a little something to wake you up!

Citrus, Ginger & Coconut Smoothie
(Serves 1)

1 cup (about 130g) peaches (can also use apricots or pineapple, or a mix!), choppped
Optionally a few icecubes (or just freeze the fruit overnight)
1 cm ginger, grated
200ml coconut milk from a carton, not tin
1 tbsp coconut cream (optional)
Juice of 1 lemon or 1 1/2 lime
5 drops stevia

- Simply have all the ingredients in a blender or process with a stickblender until smooth, and serve!

The sunshiney-colour just wakes you up a little instantly!

Do you have any favourite smoothie combinations?


Original source:
http://www.nutritionistinthekitch.com/2015/01/01/fresh-lemon-ginger-detox-smoothie/

- Jules

Golden Potatoes & Almonds

A recipe that is good for your muscles as well as your bones, imagine!

I had never tried saffron in any savoury dishes until I made this. But it works really well! Normally, I use it for St. Lucia "lussekatter" the 13th December, I am glad however - that I stumbled upon this recipe *smiles*

You can serve it as lunch, breakfast, or a side with any main you see it fit for really! And even though it features potatoes, it doesn't take long to cook, promise.

Golden Potatoes & Almonds
(Serves 2)

1 tbsp olive oil
A pinch of saffron
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
500g potatoes, finely diced
Fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
500ml vegetable stock (1 cube)
25g almonds

Optionally: Bread for mopping

- Heat oil in a casserole and fry the almonds until they're dark golden. Set aside.

- In the same pan, add the potatoes, and stir for a few minutes. Add the saffron, garlic and parsley (if using), and fry for a minute before adding the stock. Let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes until the potatoes are tender.

- Once the potatoes are done, add the almonds and serve!

Have you ever tried saffron in savoury dishes before, and have any hints and tips for me?

This week has been interesting; some customers at work who had their photo-shoot in one of our rooms insisted that I had a couple of photos taken, despite me not having the best of days having braved the weather on my way to work earlier that morning, but it was something else I suppose, haha!
Now I've got my feet up and am ready for two days off. Tomorrow, I'll be going to a few friends' for a clothes swap, and on Saturday evening I'll be making sure to see some lovely faces too. In between, I'll try and cook up a few tasty dishes and cross my fingers and toes that the weather will get better. It has been brutal the past few days with storms and rain, brrrr!


Original source:
Friske Vegetariske Oppskrifter, p. 233

- Jules

Crumbly Oat & Cranberry Cookies

Oat macaroons is one of the infamous "seven kinds" in Norway to make for this festive season, I decided to put a bit of a spin on it, and so these came to be!

I swapped the butter for coconut oil, which means the dough will be a little sweeter and contain plenty of healthy fats, and then instead of water and sugar, I swapped it for agave - but you can also use maple syrup. I thought that I'd use cranberries instead of raisins as well, as I simply love the colour of them, and they're at least as delicious as their not too distant berry cousin, so...there's that!

Crumbly Oat & Cranberry Cookies
(Makes 7-8 small ones)

1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup (spelt) flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp coconut oil
3 tbsp maple- or agave syrup
A good handful and a bit of dried cranberries

- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.

- Mix all the ingredients together well and stir to combine, making sure that the coconut oil isn't lumpy (optionally melt it a little before mixing it in).

- Shape little walnut-sized balls with your hands and place on a baking tray with baking paper, and bake them in the middle of the oven for 12-15 minutes. Cool on a rack before serving.

So far this week, I have been up at 6am so that I had enough time to get ready for the opening at work. Chilling like a villain in the evening, reading a Norwegian crime book (makes a change from fantasy fiction!), I hope you have had a good week so far, been up to much? x


Recipe by yours truly inspired by these.
http://julesthenorweegie.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/havremakroner-med-rosiner-oat-macaroons.html

- Jules

Silky Smooth Avocado Soup

Avocado in guacamole - of course, avocado in chocolate mousse: sure! Avocado in....soup? Why had this not ocurred to me sooner, until I saw it in a book somewhere? Because you know what? It really works!
Using avocado gives the soup a silky smooth consistency, and you can throw in some leftover greens you have in your fridge such as bell pepper, half a head of lettuce, a handful of spinach, it'll work a treat. I made a few changes to the recipe I had at hand, and this is how it turned out *smiles*

Silky Smooth Avocado Soup
(Serves 2)

1 large, ripe avocado
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
1/2 head lettuce OR 1/2 cucumber, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, roughly chopped
Small sprig of mint (about 8 leaves)
500ml vegetable stock
Good, crusty bread to serve

- In a medium pot, start by heating up the onion, lettuce/cucumber and green bell pepper.

- Then, cut the avocado in half, take out the stone and remove the flesh. Chop up, and add to the casserole, swish around for about a minute before pouring over the stock. Simmer for about 10 minutes, before adding the mint. Take the soup off the heat and blend smooth.

- Add salt to taste (I didn't think it needed any), toast some bread, or serve this soup with crutons. It can be enjoyed either hot or cold!

Soup post-bread attack

The weather over the past week here in Glasgow has been well...less than sunny to say the least, the rain pouring down sometimes accompanied by sleet... It's a very mild Winter for sure, but I think I'd take snow over this if I'd had to choose. Perfect soup weather though, for sure!

I have just had a couple of days off, recuperating - seeing friends over lunch, went to a dinner at a colleague's (she and her flatmate makes badass pizza with roasted vegetables!) and reading a little. Today, it's back to work - bring it on! Whatever have you been up to over the weekend?


Recipe by yours truly,

- Jules

Luis' Savoury Cheesecake

So my friend Luis came over for dinner once a while back, and had brought this amazing cheesecake that he had made for dessert. But this cheesecake was different - it was a lot more savoury than any other cheesecake I had tried before, the secret? Parmesan! And it worked really well, because more times than others, I prefer having two savoury courses... I had the leftovers for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next few days afterwards, and I had to get the recipe for this so I could share it with you!

And here - my first ever, properly made cheesecake! My previous attempts has been a little so so. I halved the original recipe, as I was only making this for myself, and I had to suss out how high a temperature and for how long I had to cook it. You can add an additional 5-10 minutes in the over just to be sure, maybe just cover the top with aluminium foil then so it doesn't go darker in colour at the top!

Luis' Savoury Cheesecake
(Makes 1 - Serves 4-6)

3 eggs
1 small can of condensed milk
250g cottage cheese
25g parmesan/grana padano grated
1/2 tea spoon baking powder

- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.

- Blend everything with a stick blender or in a processor. Place in a silicone mould or a greased and baking-paper clad cake tin, and scoop in the cheese mixture. Have the tin/mould into a baking deep baking tray filled with water (about 1cm), this will allow for the cake to steam.

- Place in the middle of the oven and cook for about an hour and ten minutes, then - turn down the temperature to 160°C and cook for about 10-20 minutes more if necessary, until the cake is properly set.

You can also cook this entirely at 160°C, but then I imagine the cooking time will be longer, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours altogether.

Have you tried savoury cheesecakes before?


Recipe mi amigo Luis!

- Jules

Persimmon "Shake" with Berry Sorbet

Hello! Have you had a good week so far? I have been powering through work, bumped into friends and cooked - mainly, and then I finished readin the second book in "The Dresden Files" called Fool Moon. Are you reading anything at the moment?


Today I wanted to share a weird and wonderful recipe with you, it's like mousse, but not quite, like smoothie, except not. All I know is that I thought this was a great way of using up the last persimmon fruit I had, and the blackberry sorbet on top added a bit of refreshing berry-ness which I thought went really well with it. You can substitute blackberries for raspberries if you want, or also freeze the diced persimmon before blitzing it for a double-bill sorbet!

Persimmon "Shake" with Berry Sorbet
(Serves 1, easily doubled)

1 persimmon/sharon fruit, diced (optionally frozen)
50g blackberries or raspberries, frozen
1 tbsp xylithol, agave syrup, maple syrup or brown sugar
Juice of 1/3 lime or 1/4 lemon

- Start by blending the persimmon fruit until you have a nice, smooth pureê, pour into a serving glass or bowl.

- Now, blitz the berries, sweetner and citrus juice until you have a sorbet, it doesn't have to be super smooth, I like when it has a bit of a texture.

- Top the persimmon with the berry mixture, and enjoy!

Do you have any good recipes that calls for persimmon fruit?


Original Source: Friske Vegetariske Oppskrifter, p. 184

- Jules

Soft Oat Biscuits

Soft oat biscuits with a hint of coconut for sweet toppings such as cream cheese and smashes berries, peanut butter and jelly or whatever else you can think of!

I tried it first with savoury topping, and that actually worked too! But my favourite topping so far was jam and almond butter - no less than spiffing!

These are child-friendly, egg-free and altogether vegan. I love the currants in the mixture, they add just that little something to the biscuits.

Soft Oat Biscuits
(Makes about 9)

125g oat flour or oats (you can whizz oats roughly in a food processor)
150 ml boiling water (a little over half a cup)
2 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp dried fruit (currants, chopped dates, cranberries, coconut, mango, etc.)
1/3 tsp vanilla extract
A pinch of salt

- Pre-heat your oven to 175-180°C.

- Now, mix the oats and boiling water together and set aside for a couple of minutes, before mixing in the rest of the ingredients.

- Place the dough on a baking tray, and place a piece of clingfilm over the top before rolling out. The dough should be about 5mm thick.

- Once rolled out, use a knife or a pizza cutter to make marks in the batter, you don#t have to cut all the way through, you can do this after they are baked. Place in the middle of the oven and bake for about 15-20 minutes.

- Let it cool completely before cutting the biscuits into squares. Serve topped with whatever goodies you can think of, or simply on its own!

As for my Hogmanay celebrations, I hosted a little get-together for the last/first day of the year. I spent a couple of hours cooking, and I made Spiced Currant Bulghur, Hummous, Iranian dressing, Sweet Tater Tots, lentil patties and I also tried my hands on these puff pasties stuffed with Brie and caramelised onions, yum!

Cava, wine and cheap champagne were had in-between all the food, and I was lucky to enter the new year with some of my favourite people! Did you do anything nice for New Year's Eve?


Original source:
http://ragnhildnordrum.com/?p=5294

- Jules